Nine
by SammyM

Comment:
Your lawn mower blade needs sharpening. The grass is being ripped at the level of the blade more than it is being cut. Here is how to sharpen your own mower blade to save some time and money:

1 Make sure the mower is turned off, and you should disconnect the spark plug.

2 Take a wrench and remove the blade by removing the nut that secures the blade to the mower deck.

3 Remove any rust with a steel brush or steel wool.

4 Sharpen the blade down to the point where the metal has a nice smooth edge. Even out the rough spots until isn't pitted anymore. Just follow the angle for the edge that is already there.

5 You can use a grinding wheel or file. Some mowers, like reel mowers, come with a sharpening kit, so you'll need to use that.

6 If you don't have a grinder or file, you can take just the blade to a mower shop and they can run it over a grinder for you. That way you don't have to leave your mower there.

7 Now the last step is really important. For a lawn mower to run properly, the blade has to be balanced. So check the balance of the blade by supporting the blade at its center. If it is out of balance, remove a bit more of the blade by sharpening one side until you achieve balance.

8 Lastly, clean your mower. Wipe it down and remove old grass clippings or dirt.

You'll find that this gives your grass a much healthier appearance, and it can prevent many diseases that some lawns are susceptible to.

About the image, your primary focal plane is in the grass rather than the flowers. This effectively kills any contrast that would add detail and crispness to the flowers, thus making them difficult to look at when paired with the harshness of the pink color. This one needs a fair amount of work to become appealing to the eye. 3.

Time Slows to a Snail's Pace When the Workday Begins
by Sioux

Comment:
This is one of the more interesting of the many, many clocks in the challenge. I do appreciate your added creativity and titling here. I like the point of view you chose and I almost like the composition. I think that this one would have worked even better as a square. There is something off about the overall image quality, though. The focus seems to be on, but not crisp. I see a lot of haloing around the image elements. Still, nice creativity that I will score a 5.

Month 9 = Spring
by tinkie2010

Comment:
I like your subject matter here, as well as the somewhat muted tones. I think that I'd like to see the white balance just a few Kelvin cooler, and the half frame really hurts this image. There are times that the half frame is effective in adding to the composition and image quality, but I don't think that this is one of those cases. It just adds to the feeling that the top and bottom were chopped off. I score it a 5, mostly based on the fairly interesting subject that you have chosen.

Half Full
by silverhawk

Comment:
I like the super-shallow depth of field, but it leaves me wondering if it was achieved with aperture or post-processing. The panoramic-type crop doesn't seem to suit the image very well to my eye. I'd like to see a more creative arrangement and composition rather than the straight line. 4.

Splashdown Squares 09/09/09
by bcrants

Comment:
I actually like the idea of capturing all three nines, but the poor image quality paired with the commonality of the splash photo here on DPC do a great deal of harm to the scoring potential you started with. I'd like my eye to be able to better key in on crisp focus rather than noise and blown highlights. A score of 4 from me.

09.11.2001: Never Forget
by Five_Seat

Comment:
Nor will I. At the time of the attacks, I was working as a paramedic in Atlanta. My roommate woke me up a few minutes before the second plane struck. I was groggy from the night shift before and very, very confused when the second one crashed. I was initially asking if they were showing a replay. All too soon I realized the tragedy of what had just unfolded and the probable loss of life and those that I considered brothers and sisters that was about to take place. I went into work at 2 PM and we were flooded with panic attacks from our very delicate psych patient population. Hell, we were all struggling with the same concerns and losses. It was very, very difficult to maintain compassion with that particular population that day, but we managed. After about 5 or 6 of those calls, we were dispatched on an 86 year old lady that had fallen down her front porch steps. When we got there, there was a small, frail Hispanic lady lying in her front yard apologizing for being so much trouble in her very broken and difficult to understand English. We packaged her, gave her some medicine for the pain, and I drove in while my partner attended to her in the box. Her daughter rode in with me and her English was even more broken than her mother's. We were pulling onto Peachtree RD when her daughter looked over at me with tears rolling down her face. She said, "I am so apology and hurt for what your country hurts today." I lost it. I had to pull over and cry like a baby for a couple of minutes. She was still concerned for her mother, but it was almost like she could sense the difficulty of whet we were going through as emergency responders that day. She honestly seemed upset that she needed our help. That two minute exchange is how I will always remember that day. It was a family member of a patient that took care of me that day. She probably had no idea that her exact words were what I needed to hear that day to make me OK. To me its a bit more than Never Forget. I look at it as Always Remember. Nice capture that will surely always bring up the entire range of emotions in my little head.

Nine Eleven Memorial
by Dano6

Comment:
A scene and time period that will forever stay on the forefront of my memory.. At the time of the attacks, I was working as a paramedic in Atlanta. My roommate woke me up a few minutes before the second plane struck. I was groggy from the night shift before and very, very confused when the second one crashed. I was initially asking if they were showing a replay. All too soon I realized the tragedy of what had just unfolded and the probable loss of life and those that I considered brothers and sisters that was about to take place. I went into work at 2 PM and we were flooded with panic attacks from our very delicate psych patient population. Hell, we were all struggling with the same concerns and losses. It was very, very difficult to maintain compassion with that particular population that day, but we managed. After about 5 or 6 of those calls, we were dispatched on an 86 year old lady that had fallen down her front porch steps. When we got there, there was a small, frail Hispanic lady lying in her front yard apologizing for being so much trouble in her very broken and difficult to understand English. We packaged her, gave her some medicine for the pain, and I drove in while my partner attended to her in the box. Her daughter rode in with me and her English was even more broken than her mother's. We were pulling onto Peachtree RD when her daughter looked over at me with tears rolling down her face. She said, "I am so apology and hurt for what your country hurts today." I lost it. I had to pull over and cry like a baby for a couple of minutes. She was still concerned for her mother, but it was almost like she could sense the difficulty of whet we were going through as emergency responders that day. She honestly seemed upset that she needed our help. That two minute exchange is how I will always remember that day. It was a family member of a patient that took care of me that day. She probably had no idea that her exact words were what I needed to hear that day to make me OK. To me its a bit more than Never Forget. I look at it as Always Remember. Nice capture that will surely always bring up the entire range of emotions in my little head.

Nine Volt
by Andrew1023

Comment:
Interesting, and I am interested in your setup and actions here. The frame is far too busy and very unnecessarily so. The one, apparently exploding battery on that nicely reflective surface would have been sufficient for the image. The added batteries and their reflection make this one too busy with all the action already present. I'd also like to see the background nearly empty to nicely isolate your subject even more. Creative and interesting even with my perceived flaws. 5.

Channel 9
by browda1

Comment:
Neat high-hey feel and I really like your depth of field. The nine is spot on with crisp focus and very well isolated from the other numbers that fade into blur. I don't like the composition, and the subject is relative mundane. The nine is too centered for me, thus it really prevents my eye from roaming the frame. The darkness at the bottom right corner is also distracting. As is, I score it a 5.

Nine Piece Band - Kleintje Pils
by tvsometime

Comment:
Great colors that serve well to grab my eye and move them through the frame. I also like the start that you have here at a potentially nice leading line. What I dislike, and what completely kills the image for me, is the very poor composition. You are way to tight in on your subject matter. You did a wonderful job keeping all 9 members fairly well focused, but cramming them in the frame while chopping off two heads, one hand, and having the far instrument nearly touching the frame cripples the image and composition. Definitely some potential, but it gets a 4 from me as it is now.